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Hi all...
I would like to create a simple private forum for a small group. Has anybody here had experience of setting one up and can anyone recommend a good starter one for an iMac.
Simplicity is an important requirement

Many thanks and hope this is the correct area for this post, apologies in advance if I am on the wrong board.

Thank you for your reply vansmith, ...... This is where my ignorance shows through as my knowledge of web hosts is about nil (or slightly less)..... I use safari and my ISP is British Telecom, that's about all I can tell you....

If you want to have an online forum, it needs to be hosted on a web server somewhere. There are a whole bunch of web hosting companies that will provide you with space on their server and a domain for a relatively low fee. There are also bound to be free hosts that will provide what you need but you'll likely lose some flexibility and/or you'll have to put up with ads on your forum. One free option is here (I've never actually tried this one so I have no idea what it's like).

Thank you for your reply vansmith, ...... This is where my ignorance shows through as my knowledge of web hosts is about nil (or slightly less)..... I use safari and my ISP is British Telecom, that's about all I can tell you....

This is probably a topic a bit too complex to discuss solely on an internet forum...especially if someone has practically zero knowledge on this topic.

It's sort of like asking..."How do I do brain surgery on my dog?"...on an internet forum...and expecting to be able to do it after starting a few forum threads! Ok...maybe not quite that complex...but you get the idea.

Read up on the topic. Then if there are specific areas that still seem confusing...then post those questions here...and we can address them one by one.

This is how I would approach things.

- Nick

- Too many "beachballs", read this: Beachballs- Computer seems slower than it used to? Read this for some slow computer tips: Speedup- Almost full hard drive? Some solutions. Out of Space- Apple Battery Info. Battery

Vansmith and pigoo3 .... I really appreciate your advice over this and clearly it's more complicated than I imagined, I will look up the links you have provided and get myself educated in the art of creating a forum. Many thanks once again and I'll let you know how I get on. This really is a great group of people.

Is it really a forum you want or just a private place for group chats? If the latter you can setup a private room in Skype for chat and swapping pictures etc,, I've had one open for a couple years with about 40 people all with a grilling/ bbq interest and it's free. It's private as people will have to be added to see or comment in the room.

The easiest and cheapest way to get your own forum is use a free forum such as click here or do a Google search for free forums. Using free forum software is what I personally would recommend before signing up for hosting, paying for a domain name and such to see if you even like having your own forums. If you like it after a while, then spend some money on it. But try it out 1st.

Other than the excellent suggestions offered above, I would pitch in with some ordinary suggestions as well.
It is pretty easy to set up a forum with a good host. It is a simple process with a few clicks away from your host's control panel. Main issue would be to develop a community. That takes a lot of effort. After all it would be painful to see a forum where little activity takes places. Building a network of loyal, passionate members is a serious task.
I maintain servers for living (amongst other things) and I can tell you from experience - it is relatively a simple thing with machines and software. It is entirely a different ballgame when it comes to people.